Tully: In the fight against gun violence, can't we reach for greatness?

The latest school shooting seemed to come with a feeling of resignation that nothing will change. We can't let that feeling dominate.

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Guns are seen in the Reference Collection room of the firearms unit at the State of Indiana Forensic & Health Science Laboratories, Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2017. The weapons are used for training purposes and to help the staff understand the workings of certain guns. The weapons are also used for parts when necessary. These guns were recovered or surrendered.
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In 2016, tens of millions of Americans voted for a president whose campaign was based on the promise to “make America great again.” In those votes, millions seemed to be saying that our country has big problems but also the resilience, smarts and courage required to be great.

Let’s remember that word: Great.

On the other side of the aisle, many of us truly believe that smart policies and programs, and a wise investment of resources, can improve our country in all sorts of ways. They can bring great improvement to everything from health and safety to poverty and education.

I guess my point is this: Most of us are on the record saying, in our own way, that our country is capable of fighting back against daunting challenges. We might disagree on the path forward. But the message being delivered across political boundaries seems to be this one: America is the greatest country in the history of the world, so let’s start acting like it.

Let's be great.

Sadly, in the wake of yet another mass shooting, this one at a Florida high school, the belief that we can and will do better seemed to disappear. It was replaced on one side by the argument that this or that policy will not solve the problem of gun violence in America, so why even try? On the other side, so many have been burned by past governmental inaction that even as the story in South Florida was still unfolding they were predicting yet another instance of profound failure to act by our leaders.

As many said, if the murders of 20 students and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012 didn’t lead Republican political leaders to act, this won’t, either. What a sad but understandable reaction.

I don’t know what the answer to our gun violence problem is. I think all of us should admit that we don’t have the answer. That’s why we need the most robust, thoughtful public debate we’ve ever seen. That’s why we need congressional hearings driven by experts and a belief in our country’s greatness, and not by the road-blocking profiteers at the NRA. That’s why we need to dispense with the ridiculous suggestion that it’s ever too early to start fighting back against a plague.

Our government is broken. We all know that.

The fact that something as simple as truly universal background checks cannot get a hearing in Congress, despite overwhelming support across the political spectrum, tells you that. The fact that government research into the issue of gun violence has been blocked for years tells you that. The fact that the GOP-led state legislature has ignored the issue of gun violence in Indiana while pushing a bill to allow guns in churches that have schools tells you that. The fact that we’ve had a series of horrific mass shootings in recent years, including so many in schools, and yet little action tells you that.

Yes, our government is broken. But we can’t give up.

I don’t know what the answers are. And I agree with those who say we will never eliminate violence – I just disagree with the notion that such a reality should stop us from trying. For goodness sake, would you tell cancer researches or police or firefighters to give up their work because they haven't fully eradicated the problems they fight?

So here’s the point of the day: When you next drive by a school, imagine all of the children who go there. Children who come from liberal, conservative, moderate and non-political families. Children of different races and religions. Children of parents who voted for Donald Trump, or for Hillary Clinton. Regardless of your views on politics and gun laws, do you not wish for the safety and happiness of every one of those children?

Of course you do.

So let’s truly be great, or at least reach for that goal.

The first step is acknowledging that we have a problem with gun violence and that America is capable of taking on the biggest and most daunting of problems. The second step is to be willing to listen, both to those with whom we agree and disagree, while somehow tuning out the voices of those who simply seek to divide us. The third step is having faith in the idea that we can come together on the issue, no matter how politically treacherous it is.

Either that, or we are not the great country we say we are, or that we want to be.

I don’t know what the specific policy answers are. But I do know that we can do better. I do know there are little steps we can take that will help while pursuing bigger ideas. The heartbreaking truth is that in Washington and in most of our statehouses, they’re not even trying. Let’s stop tolerating that.